Institutions, offices and agencies of the European Union

• Author: Ioana Nely Militaru
• Profession: PhD is Associate Professor at the Law Department of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies
• Pages: 9-20

Chapter 1. Institutions, offices and agencies of the

European Union

1.1. The institutional framework of the European Union

✓ The Union has a unique institutional framework aimed at promoting

values, pursuing objectives and supporting its interests, of its citizens and Mem-

ber States, as well as ensuring the coherence, effectiveness and continuity of its

policies and actions [art. 13 paragraph (1) of the Treaty on European Union

(TEU), Title III, "Provisions regarding institutions"].

The institutions of the Union are:

- European Parliament;

- the European Council;

- the Council;

- European Commission (hereinafter referred to as "the Commission");

- The Court of Justice of the European Union;

- European Central Bank;

- Court of Auditors.

✓ The institutional framework of the European Union

1

is wider than the

Community one

2

, by adding two institutions: the European Council and the Eu-

ropean Central Bank. Thus, through the institutional treaties of the Communities

- Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (TECSC), Treaty

establishing the European Economic Community (TEEC), Treaty establishing the

European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC - Teuratom) - parallel institutions

3

with similar attributions were created: the Parliamentary Assembly (the European

Parliament), the Special Council of Ministers (the Council), the Executive Com-

mission (the Commission) and the Court of Justice. The Parliament and the Court

of Justice are joint since 1957 by the Convention on certain common institutions,

signed at the same time with the EEC and EAEC Treaties (in Rome), and since

1967 (July 1)

4

the Council and the Commission have been unified by the Merger

Treaty of executives, from Brussels.

✓ The three Communities initially had four institutions - the Parliament,

the Council, the Commission and the Court of Justice, and since 1993, through

1

See A. Fuerea, Manualul Uniunii Europene, 5th edition, revised and added after the Lisbon Treaty,

Ed. Universul Juridic, Bucharest, 2011, p. 84 et seq.

2

See R. Joliet, Le droit institutionnel des Communautés Éuropéennes, Faculté de Droit d'Economie

et de Sciences Sociales de Liège, 1981.

3

These are the first four: The Parliamentary Assembly (the European Parliament), the Special

Council of Ministers (the Council), the Executive Committee (th e Commission) and the Court of

Justice, because the Court of Accounts later acquired the status of institution through the Maastricht

Treaty.

4

The executive merger treaty was signed in Brussels in 1965 and entered into force in 1967.